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There is the phrase “so good it should be illegal” and then there is Hotel Chocolat’s particular hazelnut praline, which actually is.

The chocolate company’s founder, Angus Thirlwell, indulged his rebellious streak by overloading Hotel Chocolat’s “Gianduja” recipe with so many hazelnuts that it exceeds European Union specifications.

“Send me to prison for the hazelnuts, it’s worth it,” Thirlwell cries with a hysterical laugh. It is this unrelenting exuberance, as well as his shock of white-blonde hair and tall, rakish figure which makes the 53-year-old instantly stand apart from a room full of suited diners at Rabot 1745, his cocoa-themed restaurant in London’s foodie Borough Market.